Steel News - Published on Mon, 17 Dec 2018

Bloomberg Quint reported that JSW Steel Ltd said the possible closure of state-run National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd’s Donimalai mine in Karnataka will have a limited impact on sourcing of iron ore. India’s largest steelmaker tried to allay concerns of analysts visiting its Vijayanagar plant. JSW Steel highlighted that in the event of closure of the facility, ore production in Karnataka could be lower by 3.5 million tonne in 2018-19. This, it said, would be more than compensated by NMDC’s existing inventory and JSW Steel’s captive sourcing.

Ratings agency ICRA had said that that the suspension of the mine could increase ore prices in the southern state, raising costs of Karnataka-based steel mills.

In November, NMDC suspended the production of iron ore from its Donimalai mine following the decision of Karnataka government to impose 80 percent premium on the iron ore sales from the mine.